Project Cadmus :Raven
by crazydiamond99
Summary: Raven lives at Justice Academy,where she and others are trained by the Justice League.But Raven is hiding her demon side,knowing she will be rejected . she befriends Kaldur'ahm who understands magic and Zatanna who like Raven can't control her powers.When Zatanna dreams of Zara of Azarath,the two go looking for her.Raven is taken by Cadmus and Kaldur and his friends rescue her
1. Taken

_**Raven**_

 _In my dreams ,I see people dying .It has always been this way for me .There would be a world of ethereal tranquility and peace and then ,there would be fire and darkness .An army of monsters in dark cloaks and four glowing eyes,sets of 2 one on top of the other .They his like snakes,they have teeth like sharks,they shreak like harpies and under their cloaks,they are made of shadow .  
Others were once humans who are reduced to ash,or stone or the lucky ones become horrible demons as their skin rips from their flesh and they burn red like the demon king himself,Trigon ._

 _Whenever I wake up,I'm back here,in my room in the school with all the other metahumans,and I feel like I just came up from drowning .  
It's into having power that's scary,no I've seen alot of people who can and have doen horrors on their own and all by accident .One girl nae Terra was found burried alive in a landslide because she couldn't control her geomancy .  
She's afraid to touch anything made of stone .  
Another guy named Virgil has electrokinesis and once accidently blew all the monitors out in the computer lab,and electrified all of out chair .He's a good kid but there are people who hate him and he always wears gloves now .It wasn't until recently that people stopped avoiding him like he was a plague even after they let him out of the basement ._

 _No,it's not the power that makes it scary .It's the side effects that make it bad . .Virgil knows the feeling,so we get along pretty well,so does Wally .He once ran so fast he burned his own clothes off .That and the poor guy's always hungry,always .People thought it was funny,and he makes jokes of it,but I've seen him eat things that shouldn't be eaten and pass out in class fro still,still not having enough ._

 _But then there are the really scary ones with the light behind their eyes,who nobody wants to talk about .The ones who don't have power because of some freak accident;_

 _The ones who might not even be human ._

 _There's Kaldur'ahm,who says he's from 'the coast',who stares into space at times like he hears something we don't here,see what we don;t see .From the marks on his arms,that he always hides,I know that he's just like me,his power .It's not some freak accident like Wally or Virgil,no . . . ._

 _. . .it's magic ._

 _The way he can talk to the sea creatures and the way he moves water,I've seen it .At first,we just thought he moved water and was really strong,but then Aquaman himself showed up for Kaldur,just like The Flash came for Wally . Aquaman and Kaldur would talk without talking,and I could feel their brain waves just running a mile a inute in a language that wasn't one a human would speak ._

 _"Are you a merman?",I asked him one day .He smirked and said ._

 _"Is it true that you're a demon?",he said .I had no words and he replied ._

 _"I felt it .All of the ones like us felt it",he said ._

 _And from the water,that parted on it's own ,and a young girl with tan skin,red hair and glowing amber eyes,along with a guy near nher age,my age pale,with glowing blue eyes and hair black as dark stood in the center ,commanding the water like gods ._

 _"Your secret is safe with us,Raven",they said and Kaldur vanished with them into the water ._

 _For a while,I felt better,I felt better because they knew what it was like to be the other,Kal especially,but you could never say a word ._

 _There were others like a girl calling herself Jynx,even tghough her powers were more like hexes,which I personally know something about .She dropped out though,dissapeared .With powers like hers,it was hard to believe the League thought she could do good some day ._

 _Which is why I know if they knew the truth about me they would throw me to the dogs ._

 _And then she came ._

 _She had to be one of the prettiest girls in the school .Jet black hair,blue eyes,lined black that had a light behind it when she looked your way ._

 _She had the eyes of a witch;_

 _Her name was Zatanna Zatara ._

 _Her father was Giovani Zatara,a member of the League and a stage magician,claiing his super power to be telekinesis .That was a lie;I know a magic user when I see one,but he's a man of illusions,so of course he fooled the world ._

 _But even then,I knew Zatanna was something else other than just human,And I knew from the moment she spoke her first spell,backwards no less,which is considered wprds of a heretic,that we would be friends .Everyone else did too,because for the first time,I actually had a permanent roommate ._

 _The last one was a girl named Lori who was constantly feeding off of my magic until I confronted her in a fight that practically wrecked the campus and nearly got us both expelled .Lori though,left on her own because she was smart . I don't take kindly to those who take from me without asking ._

 _Like all the other students at Justice Academy,Zatanna had to show her stuff .When she cast her spell,she blew all the windows out of the gym room and put them right back during the League's auditioning .That and her tattoos all dark and occult besides the one on her arm that's just a rose with thorns,much like she is ._

 _And like me,she couldn't always control it ._

 _For me ,I had to keep my emotions in check,lock them away and pretend like I'm not human,like I cannot feel like I'm breaking in two . For Zatanna,she had to keep using her powers,her magic . She had to use it or it would consume her ._

 _But like me,she was afraid of the possibilities,so she spent alot of time levitating in her bedroom and we meditated together ._

 _After a while,I started telling her about my dreams .My dreams about the monster Trigon who consumed and murdered and destroyed,worlds that weren't this one .And like me the horror that such a thing existed she took to heart ._

 _In turn ,she told me about her dreams about a woman named Zara who would come to us and teach us to master our magic,who would save us from ourselves .Zara and a being called Aerebus who loved her and sent her to this world . It seemed too good to be true,but Zatanna believed,so I believed ._

 _So we held on for a while,we waited .We waited for Zara to come,went to the spot where we knew she'd be on those nights when the moon was full because in the dreams,that was when she came for us ._

 _But she never came ._

 _Who cae instead were men in coats and monsters colored gray with red eyes and hborns that reminded me very much of the demons from my dreams ._

 _The first thing I did was looked for Zatanna ,and when I found her ,I sent her away because I knew I couldn't possibly live with the fact that she died for me ._

 _With my magic,I had her dragged back to our room at Justice Academy and put her into a deep sleep where no one could wake her unless she allowed it .That way she could always be safe ._

 _And in turn,I let them take me ._

 _I let them take me so that they wouldn't come looking for her . . ._

 _If I had known what they needed with me I would have run away .If I knew they needed me to make a weapon,I would not have allowed it ._

 _I would not let Cadmus have me . . ._


	2. Enter,Superboy

**Author's Notes:** This chapter is pretty ugly from the psychological point,Raven's stay at Cadmus is NOT vague descriptions of extreme violence,extreme and psychological torture are have been warned.

 **Chapter 2:Enter,Superboy**

* * *

 **Chapter Summary:** Raven has been locked up in Cadmus for over a year and used in experiments .Match,a feral younger clone of Superman is her guard and her tormentor,wearing masks and suits that protect him from her magic .Meanwhile she dreams of home and while doing a psychic perimeter sweep,she discovers the Superboy .The two become freinds and agree to escape .Raven reaches out for Kaldur'ahm who is on his way with help,but Zara (Zatanna prime) shows first .

* * *

Raven's disappearance had completely shook the campus .Students were afraid to go out late at night,the staff stepped up security and even the Justice league themselves took turns looking for her .As for Raven's friends,they were all at loss .Zatanna had shut down ,fallen into a horrible depression,moved back to into her father's mansion and cries herself to sleep ,Zachary ever present at her side . Kaldur'ahm ,Garth,Tula and others have come to see her,but there are days when she won't leave her room .

"I-I can't hear her anymore . . . I can't hear her voice . . .you know what that means . . . you know",Zatanna said .sitting on the edge of her bed .This is what Kaldur ,and Garth and Tula would hear if any of them came to see her . tula usually stays,braiding her hair and telling her stories and sharing memories of Raven .Kaldur and Garth under the cover of darkness would search the waters nearby .They spoke to the sea,asked for a body ,but there was no body to give .

"She's still alive",Kaldur said the next time he visited .Many others doubted but those touched by magic like Zatara and Captain Marvel and Wonder woman believed .But it was when Aquaman confirmed it that the others were ready to listen .

"There's an area,like,a few miles wide and far deep,where,her . . .her voice is speaking to me,through the water .It is really faint, almost not there,but it's enough to know . . .feel a heartbeat maybe .But it's true ,it's alive ",he said .

With that confirmed ,Zatanna came to her senses,thus her making her magic once again in tuned .She .her father ,Zachary and Kaldur shared their magic to share what they knew .Batman and the others gathered more physical evidence .Before,Zatnna could only point to where in the woods,but now,like this,she could see,and feel tracks and point them in the right direction . What it led them to was just an empty clearing .

"There are only two ways that this could be .Either it's underground or they've been taken by air ",Batman said .

"I would have known,I came by that night on patrol",Superman said .

"If there is an open near by,it's most likely mad of metal",he said .And then,he produced what Kaldur deduced to be metal detector .After all that time,though,all that was found was metal pipes and an empty abandoned station .

"Lead pipes",Superman said and sighed in frustration.

"We'll have to explore the sewers then .If you could point me in the right direction,we can get this done tonight",Superman said .And for the first time in a long time,Zatanna smiled .

"I'll go .I want to help",Zatanna said ,but she was turned away .

"I will go ,my king",Kaldur said .

"Kaldur'ahm . . . "Aquaman began as he held him by his shoulders .

"Is better at stealth than you are and shares a bond with her .Let him go",Wonder woman said . Aquaman frowned,and Kaldur gave him a pleading look .

"Fine then,you go ,but only for recon .When you've scouted the area,you come on back,is that understood?",Aquaman said .

"Yes, my king ",Kaldur said and bowed his head in respect,Aquaman returning it .

This is what lead to the team to be chosen to scout the tunnels .Kaldur'ahm,the Aqualad with his ability to stave off the water and swim if necessary ,Wally West as Kid Flash to run the tunnels and see how far they go . Virgil Hawkins to check for anykind of technology indicating what kind of place it would be and Dick Grayson as Nightwing to check the security systems for a way in . The group went in and came out ,with the smell of sewage,masking sweat with tired limbs and anger in their eyes .Dick passed his camera and a glass vile back to Batman as soon as he entered the cave . He read the words in tiny invisble travces on glass and his eyes narrowed .

"Cadmus",he ground out .

It was was then that the League decided to plan for her rescue as they went their separate ways .But the four boys who located her had other ideas .

"I heard her scream through a microphone .Not just her,ubt other",Virgil said quietly on the way back .

"I saw onsters in the halls through the cameras",Dick said .

"Then we can't leave her there",Wally said .

"And we won't",Kaldur answered .

And they all went home,l;ike nothing happened,like they weren't panning something big .

Before the night was out,all four of them had crept silently from their beds into the night .

 _'Thank you ',Kaldur heard Zatanna echo.A smile crossed his lips as he dropped into the sewer below ._

* * *

 _ **Raven**_

 _In all this time I've been here ,I have started to lose track iof space and time .Everything is so cold so sterile,white walls,white walls and even more .And if not white,than hard industrial gray that screams lifelessness ._  
 _The world is always spinning,always spinning always and I can't even walk on my own ._  
 _They send him to get me,they call him Subject Kr ._

 _I had at some point wondered if the League knew about this,how can this be? How could the be another kryptonian here and know one else knows?_

 _I do know that he's strong enough ._  
 _I know because we've fought many times because he is the only guard who can enter my quarters and survive .I know because I killed one of them when he touched me .He touched y face saying 'such a pretty girl . . .if only we could make more of you . .",which I responded by snapping my neck with my mind . After that they started gassing the rooms several times a day to the point that that's the way I tell time .In cycles .Gas,then needles then that slop they force down my throat ._

 _Then they send in Kr to do whatever needs to be done with tests and now I give in because Kr is there and he is invinsible and with that stpid mask on,I can't get inside his mind and destroy him ._

 _No matter what I throw at him, .desks tables,chairs,debris .We've slammed each other through walls and destroyed the lower levels,cut and stabbed each other,choked with wires .As long as I don't let him get close ,I'm in the clear .But he moves so fast and the gas makes me dizzy and tired and them draining so much blood,I'm not at my best .And even then,ebven then,I'm not sure I could stop this mosnter without doing something truly horrible ._

 _I have forgotten how many times I was forced to retreat from the mazes and back to the very cage I've been forced to sleep in .I'm grateful that I can levitate because it eases the burden of the strains sprains and breaks that heal to fast thanks to the monsterblood inside me .but the all white he wears reminds me how much oif his own blood I have shed ._

 _But it's not enough ._

 _I habve grown to hate Kr to the point that the monsters in my head are crawling on the walls and I hope when he comes near,something will come out and bite him .I never find out though because as I hear his steps approach,I'm gassed and then the world goes dark ._

 _In my dreams I see Kaldur'ahm and Garth and Tula and how happy they are together .I use to watch them sneak to the Academy pool at night to make magic with the water .Their magic doesn't feel dark like mine or Zatanna's,it feels calm and relaxing like order,like love and like life and it made the dark in me melt away . I stopped eventually because I was caught ._

 _How I know I was caught was the way Garth looked my way then theirs and they began,all three ofthem,stripping naked by the water .I never knew if this was a thing they did or to scare me away,but Kaldur told me to ask for first and then I would go swimming with them . I din't want to tell Zatanna because I was selfish for wanting my own special thing,but she followed me one day and I remember rainbow colored ice bubbles and flowers made of lightnig and crystal dolphins crystal clear and I never forgot it ._

 _I remembered that and Kaldur's soft voice and Tula's laugh and Garth singing in what I guess to be atlantean as they spun tales from their world and lulled us to sleep .I always remembered waking up with Zatanna tucked into my side and sometimes we wore each other's pajamas and were left with shells and pearls,Tula having braided our hair and crowned us with dried flowers and beads ._  
 _Those were the best dreams,those and the ones where Zatanna and I would randomly hop through people's dreams or her own,never mine . . .my head was filled with too much darkness .I remember a man fro her dreams,tall and handsome,blonde hair,blue eyes,a wicked smile,an accent and a trench coat ,who seemed to always be smoking as he watched us from afar .He was the one who helped us walk through dreams,and she called him 'JC' .When asked what it stood for,he's blink twice and everything would stop and he'd walk away with no questions asked ._

 _I don't know what he did,but on those nights JC came I slept good .I slept good and I forgot the hell I was in until I smelled gas and it was too late ._

 _Other days,I woke up in time to notice and even with my body bound in a straight jacket and the drugs and the mask , I fought and fought and fought until I realized it's what they wanted . They wanted to test their weapon against the likes of me .I know because of a dream I had form JC,who told me when I wake up 'to look above,luv',before he was gone again ._

 _As it turned out they were watching us through cameras .I know now the purpose of the countless nameless,faceless others have come through here and have been pitted against him .I hear screams,because they want me to hear it,and then he,the one so much like my tormenter but not him stumbles through the halls covered in their blood and his eyes looking faraway and petrified before he becomes a zombie again ._

 _He is the Superboy ._

 _There was a time when he tried to fight back agaisnt his captors but there was a demon on his shoulder,or at least a hybrid one ,ugly small,gray thing with strips called a G-gnome surpressed him .I know because I can feel these things that other people can't that they can't see .They mess around in his mind ._  
 _Eventually one of them came to me,one that stood tall and walked and spoke like a human,called Dubilex . He told me that they no lonbger wanted to be slaves and he had a plan . He would cause a distraction,the power would go out and I could try to escape,and if I didn't make it I'll send a message . I reached out to the one person who I was absoluetly sure could help ,I called Kaldur'ahm ._  
 _Much as I don't like to admit he ,by far of all the others at the academy was the only one who was the right combination of skill,power,ability and judgement come to my aid,or our aid .I talked to the Superboy in one of his lucid moments and I realized that he had been completely enslaved and subjugated for his entire existence and force fed a strange mix of truth and lies that twisted him up in his head ._  
 _I also found out that The Superboy wasn't the savage monster that they sicked on me,no he was too precious .The one they sent to me,Kr , was called Match,some sort of literal evil twin . Match was feral,a sad mindless thing that was too powerful to put out of his misery .I know because I have tried . . .mostly . There are forbidden spells,black spells that I could use to kill hmi with just a moment's glance .But I a, afraid to show them that kind of power .For a world where an army existed that could kill with a glance is a world destined for ruin,so I keep them to myself .The very thought of that being inside e makes me shrink against the walls ._  
 _I found out the about the Superboy when I was doing a mindsweep as I do every night .I have to monitor the pattern of these G-gnomes and their telepathic frequency as well as the movements of the larger and more dangerous Genomorphs if I am to escape .I was reaching out one day when I found his mind,when I found him .At first he was afraid because my voice didn't sound like the others,like the G-gnomes,but then he decided that he was lonely without it .That and he said it was a pretty voice and if he was anything like Match in power,but a gentle soul,then the world needed someone like him ._

 _Ever since then we have been trying to find our way out,mapping this place so that we may have our freedom ._

 _And then the fire came,and we saw our chance ._

* * *

Zatanna now Zara along with ,arrives in Cadmus base in the wake of a disaster .She could smell smoke,feel the warmth of fire and was well aware of the alarms going off .Worse,the moment she got here,her Raven seemingly vanished in thin air,which she viewed to be a bad sign .

'Damnit! I have to find Raven . . .both Ravens!',she said to herself,powering up a spell .

'Ekat em ot Nevar, od ton em eb nees ",she chanted and vanished .

When she was re-matierialized,she was against a wall completely invisible .Things seemed to be more settled in this area .But she felt the constant boom,boom,rumbling of something heavy like elephants walking across the floor .Along with that,she felt the high frequency ping that reminded her very much of the sound and feeling that accompanied an obvious psychic attack . . .or more like a scan .

She wrapped herself in her magic,shut herself down and let it pass .And when the huge ,lumbering mammoth like creatures completely,she made her way down to the lower floors .

She could feel Raven's magic,but it was weak,so very weak . Zara just hoped that she wasn't too late .


End file.
